Apparatus for heating water.



Ho. 704,330. Patented luly 8, |902.

- E. w. HIGBEE.

' APPARATUS For:l HEATING WATER.

(Apnlicaton filed Dec. 8, 1901.`|

2 Smets-Sheet I.

v(Nu Model.)

No. 704,330. Patented July 8, |902.

E. W. HIGBEE.

'APPARATUS FUR HEATING WATER.

(Application filed Dec. 6, 1901..

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shen 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN W. HIGBEE,VOF NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR HEATING WATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 704,330, dated July 8,1902.

Application filed December 6, 1901. Serial No. 84,909. (No model.)

To all whom, it muy concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN W. HIGBEE, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Northampton, in the county of Hampshire and Stateof Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatusfor Heating Vater, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for heating water, and is in thenature of animprovement on my prior Letters Patent of the United Statesfor Apparatus for heating water, dated September 24, 190l, and numbered688,278; and thisinvention is directed to the provision of means wherebythe temperature to be imparted to the water may be regulated at will;and the invention consists in the construction whereby that end isattained, all as fully described in the following specification andclearly pointed out in the claims.

The apparatus shown and described in this application is like thatillustrated in my said prior Letters Patent in that the said apparatuscomprises a water-reservoir having suitable inlet and outlet pipes,v aheating-pipe connected at some point' outside of the reservoir with asuitable steam-generator, and a vent-pipe in said heatingepipe having onits outer end a thermostatic valve. The essence of this invention liesin the provision of means whereby the effective area of saidheating-pipe may be varied, to the end that the degree of heat which maybe imparted to the water may be controlled.

My improvements are clearly illustrated in the drawings, in which'-Figure lis a sectional elevation of a heating apparatus embodying myinvention. Figs. 2, 4, and 5 are similar views showing modifications ofthe construction shown in Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is a sectional view,somewhat enlarged, of the upper end of the drip or vent pipe within theheating-pipe.

Referring now to the drawings, in which like letters indicate the sameparts in dierent figures, a indicates the water-reservoir, provided withsuitable inlet and outlet pipes b and c.

d is a heating-pipe which enters the reservoir a, (through the bottomthereof, preferably,) the preferred manner of securing it therein beingto screw it into a bushing e and then screw the bushing into a suitableboss on the bottom plate of the reservoir. The inner end of thisheating-pipe is closed, the end thereof which extends outwardly from thebottom of the reservoir being connected with some 'suitablesteam-generator (notrshown) by means of the pipe f, which screws into aT g, as clearly shown in the drawings. ln the lower end of this T thereis secured a bushing b, through which the vent-pipe t' passes. The outerend of this vent-pipe is provided with Va thermostatic valve j, wherebyby changes of temperature in the valve live steam is admitted to theheating-pipe d from the generators, all as fully set forth in my saidprior patent.

Figs. l, 2, 4, and 5 show various means whereby the height of thevent-pipe t' within the heating-pipe d may bevaried, and While theconstructions shown in Figs. l and 2 are those which are mostconveniently adapted to the various conditions under which thesewater-heaters can be used the constructions shown in Figs. 4 and 5 arealso operative and are considered as falling within the scope of myinvention.

Ithas been demonstrated in practice that the temperature of the water inthe reservoir u. can be absolutely controlled, so that its maximum willnot exceed a given point, by varying the height of the vent-pipe t'within the heating-pipe d, a given temperature of the steam or'vapor ofcourse being assumed.

l generally prefer to provide the upper end of the vent-pipe t with apiston-head c,which has a sliding fit in the heating-pipe, said pipe vlhaving an outlet Z belowsaid head for the passage of steam, the upperend of the pipe being sealed, as shown in Fig. 3. By this means thatportion of the heating-pipe above said head is absolutely cut off fromthe steamspace below it, and by varying the position of this head theheating area of the pipe d,

may be varied in such a manner that it will be impossible for steam at agiven temperature to impart to a given volume of Water in the reservoirmore than a certain number of degrees of temperature. It is not,however, essential that the upper end of the vent-pipe be provided witha head which shall absobetween it and the bottomo'f the reservoir,

ICO

lutely partition o a portion of the heatingpipe d from the rest, for bymeans of a construction such as is shown in Fig. 5 it is possible tocontrol with fair accuracy Ithe temperature of water to be heated bysimply varying the height of the vent-pipe fi, (assuming that thesteam-passage Z shall always be at or near the top of said pipe,) ithaving been found in practice that the dead end between the upper end ofthe vent-pipe and the upper end of the heating-pipe will receivepractically no steam, as the latter will not rise much, if any, abovethe point at which it may escape through the vent-pipe. It is obvious,however, that while this construction `(shown in Fig. 5) is operativewithin certain limits it is not capable ot' as accurate an adjustment asthose illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 4, wherein the upper end of thevent-pipe is provided with a head which cuts o absolutely all of thatpart of the heating-pipe above it, the steam-passage in these threefigures being located, of course, below said head.

In the four main figures of the drawings various ways have been shownfor varying the length of the vent-pipe i, whereby variations in thetemperature of the water in the reservoir may be eected. Thoseconstructed as shown in Figs. l and 2 are, as has been stated above, ofa construction which would be most generally' used. In Fig. 1 thebushing 71, through which the vent-pipe enters, is provided with apacking-nut m, which may serve the double purpose of making a tightjoint around the vent pipe and as means for holding the latter in anyposition to which it may be adjusted. By loosening this nut the pipe fimay be moved endwise of the heating-pipe through the bushing h as far asmay be required to regulate the heating area of the pipe d and then thenut m turned up to suiliciently compress the packing about the pipe tohold it in position.

In Fig. 2 the vent-pipe is screwed into the bushing h and its upper endis made up of a number of short sec tions screwed together by meansofthe couplings n. To vary the length of this vent-pipe, the bushing hmust be unscrewed and the vent-pipe drawn entirely out of theheating-pipe d and a sufficient length thereof removed to provide forthe location of the piston-heads lc in the required position. The pipemay then be replaced in the heating-pipe.

In Fig.A 4 the vent-pipe is made in two telescoping sections, the upperend of the lower section being provided with a packing-nut o for makinga tight joint between its two sections. -In order to regulate the lengthofthe vent-pipe in this construction, the bushing h is unscrewed and thevent-pipe drawn out from the heating-pipe. The upper end may then bepushed into the lower until the proper adjustment has been reached, andthe packing-nut o may then be screwed up tight enough to secure thesetwo sections in the vent-pipe together with suiicient rigidity to permitthe head 7c to be pushed back into the heating pipe without varying theadjustment.

The construction shown in Fig. 5 is similar in all respects to thatshown in Fig. 4, except that there is no head ou the upper end of thevent-pipe. The adjustment of this lastnamed construction is eiected inthe same manner also, and its operation is the same in all respects,except that it will not operate within quite as narrow a range oftemperatures as the construction shown in the other figures.

In Fig. 3 there has been shownin sectional elevation the preferred modeof securing the head to the top of the vent-pipe, which consists inscrewing the straight coupling p onto the upper end of the pipe i, thenscrewing a nipple q into the upper end of the coupling. A metal washer1* is then slipped over the nipple and the piston-heads lo and anotherwasher s also slipped onto the nipple, with a cap t then being screwedonto the upper end of it, which serves not only to close the open end ofthe nipple, and consequently the pipe 1., but also to bind thepiston-heads 7c securely between the washers r and s. The steampassagesZ are drilled straight through the coupling. This is only one manner,however,

ofconstructingtheheadk. Anyothermethod whereby the same result isattained would answer every purpose. This is a detail not forming partof the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim,- and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is=

l. A water-heating apparatus comprising a Y reservoir, a heating-pipeextending through the wall of the reservoir, the inner end of which pipeis closed, and the outer end of which is in communication with asteam-generator; a vent-pipe extending into the heating-pipe, means foradjusting the position of the open end of said vent-pipe longitudinallyin the heating-pipe relative to the end of the latter, and athermostatic valve on said ventpipe outside of the reservoir.

2. A water-heating apparatus comprising a reservoir, a heating-pipeextending through the wall of the reservoir, the inner end of which pipeis closed, and the outer end of which is in communication with a.steam-generator; a vent-pipe extending into the heating-pipe, a head onthe vent-pipe adapted to provide a partition between the ends of theheating-pipe, said head being slidable in the latter, a thermostaticvalve on the outlet end of said vent-pipe, there being a passage forsteam through the latter from a point under said head, and thencethrough said valve to the atmosphere.

3. In a water-heating apparatus, a reservoir, a heating-pipe in saidreservoir adapted to be placed in communication with a source ofsteam-supply, a vent-pipe in said heatingpipe, means for adjusting theposition of the end of said vent-pipe longitudinally in theheating-pipe, and a Valve on said Vent-pipe, substantially as described.

4. In a Water-heating apparatus, a reservoir, a heating-pipe in saidreservoir adapted to be placed in communication with a source ofsteam-supply, a Vent-pipe extending into said heating-pipe, means foradjusting the position of the end of said Vent-pipe longitudinally inthe heating-pipe, and a Valve on said Vent-pipe outside the reservoir,substantially as described.

5. In a Water-heating apparatus, a reservoir, a heating-pipe in saidreservoir adapted to be placed in communication With a source 0fsteam-supply, a Vent-pipe extending` into said heating-pipe, means foradjusting the position of the end of said vent-pipe longitu- EDWIN W.HIGBEE.

Witnesses:

LUTHER C. WRIGHT, CALVIN COOLIDGE.

